By Jacopo Prisco, CNN

(CNN) — Sub-Saharan Africa could split up in a few million years, and scientists believe they might be witnessing the early stages of this geological process.

The split would occur along the Kafue Rift, which is part of a roughly 1,500-mile-long (2,500-kilometer) rift line spanning from Tanzania to Namibia. A rift is a crack in Earth’s crust that disturbs the surface and can cause sinking land and earthquakes. Thousands of rifts exist around the world, and while the majority are inactive or dead, they can occasionally reactivate.

Geologists thought the Kafue Rift was long dead. But some experts now say it has shown signs of activity in the past few decades. Growing evidence is raising suspicion that the feature could be turning into a new continental rift — and could eventually become a new boundary between tectonic plates, creating a brand-new sea in the process.

Previous studies have collected these clues. Earthquakes too faint to be felt by people but strong enough to be picked up by instruments, increased underground temperature, and minute changes in the elevation of the ground spotted with satellites all suggest that the area may be tectonically active.

Now, a new study published Monday in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science goes one step further. “We have the first geochemical data from this area,” said Rūta Karolytė, who led the study when she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford in England. “That’s quite a different line of evidence that really strengthens the idea that we have rift activity in the area.”

Studying a new continental rift would help answer one of the most fundamental questions in tectonics.

“How does a new plate boundary begin? Mature plate boundaries are easy to recognize. The earliest stages are much more subtle,” said Estella Atekwana, a distinguished professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Davis, who did not take part in the study.

“If the Kafue Rift is part of a newborn plate boundary, it gives us a rare opportunity to study the birth of a plate boundary before volcanism, large earthquakes, and major surface deformation have overprinted the original conditions.”

Clues to a new tectonic plate

To gather the evidence, Karolytė and her colleagues collected samples from hot springs and geothermal wells in Zambia that have naturally appeared above the suspected rift. “There’s hot water bubbling up to the surface, and we sampled the gas that’s coming up from that,” said Karolytė, who is currently a principal product scientist at UK-based Snowfox Discovery, a natural hydrogen exploration company.

The researchers were looking mainly at the ratio between two types of helium — helium-3 and helium-4. The team hunted for a telltale sign that the springs and wells had a connection with Earth’s mantle, the layer sandwiched between the crust and the core that’s hundreds of miles thick. “We found more helium-3 than you’d normally find in the crust, which is generally a signal of mantle fluids coming up into the water,” Karolytė added.

The result is only preliminary because the samples come from just six sites in a highly concentrated area. But the researchers also sampled two hot springs about 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the suspected rift and didn’t find a similar increase in the helium-3 ratio.

Since material from the mantle can reach the surface as tectonic plates stretch and begin to split apart, the study team believes this new geochemical data may

Por Ben Church, CNN

Ha sido una semana memorable para el Real Madrid, pero por las razones equivocadas.

Desde peleas entre jugadores hasta extrañas ruedas de prensa, el que posiblemente sea el equipo de fútbol más grande del mundo se ha visto sacudido por una revelación tras otra que ha acaparado la atención.

¿Qué está pasando en el club? ¿Y qué podemos esperar en las próximas semanas?

En primer lugar, es importante comprender el contexto en el que surgen estas controversias. Su origen radica en que el Real Madrid lleva dos temporadas sin ganar un título importante.

Esto puede no ser un gran problema para la mayoría de los clubes del mundo, pero para el Madrid es prácticamente el fin del mundo. Dado el dinero que se paga por los jugadores y su rica historia de títulos, ganar trofeos es lo mínimo que se espera de sus jugadores, y no lograrlo suele conllevar cambios drásticos en la plantilla.

Sin duda, este año ha sido así, con la destitución de Xabi Alonso como entrenador en enero tras un mal comienzo de temporada. Fue sustituido por Álvaro Arbeloa, entrenador del filial del Real Madrid, quien no ha logrado revertir la situación durante su etapa interina.

La temporada tocó fondo el domingo, con la derrota del Madrid por 2-0 ante su eterno rival, el Barcelona. Este resultado permitió al Barça proclamarse campeón de liga ante su rival, una humillación que parece haber avivado aún más la llama que ya ardía en el corazón de este equipo madrileño plagado de estrellas.

Ante la decepcionante temporada, el presidente del Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, convocó una rueda de prensa de última hora el martes. Dado que circulaban rumores sobre el posible regreso de José Mourinho para dirigir al equipo la próxima temporada, algunos asumieron que Pérez abordaría ese tema, buscando estabilizar la situación tras unos meses turbulentos en la capital española.

Pero qué equivocados estaban.

El presidente más exitoso en la historia del club, normalmente sereno, se lanzó a una acalorada diatriba, presentándose como víctima de una “campaña organizada” para destituirlo. En un discurso apasionado, pidió nuevas elecciones y animó a sus oponentes a manifestar públicamente su deseo de reemplazarlo como presidente.

“Quiero hablar de todos los que creo que están detrás de esta campaña… algunos se mueven en la sombra para presentarse a las elecciones. Pues que se presenten”, dijo, confirmando que gozaba de buena salud y estaba listo para dirigir el club. “Esta es la oportunidad que les estoy dando”.

Pérez, de 79 años, no se anduvo con rodeos en su memorable rueda de prensa, atacando a varios objetivos, entre ellos los periodistas presentes, el Barcelona y La Liga, sobre diversos temas. Cabe destacar, sin embargo, que no habló en detalle sobre los malos resultados del equipo ni se dejó influir por las preguntas sobre la posibilidad de que Mourinho se convirtiera en entrenador.

“Ha estado al frente del Madrid durante 26 años en dos etapas, y esta es la primera vez que vemos algo así”, declaró Ruairidh Barlow, editor de Football España, a CNN Sports el miércoles.

“Llegó 18 minutos tarde a su propia rueda de prensa. Dedicó 21 minutos principalmente a atacar a la prensa y a señalar a periodistas específicos, discutiendo con algunos de ellos, y respondió a 40 minutos de preguntas, que parecieron más bien una charla informal”.

“Creo que su intención era desviar la atención de los fracasos deportivos del Real Madrid… y también desafiar a cualquiera que, en sus propias palabras, quiera arrebatarle el poder”.

“Pero, en esencia, creo que lo que hizo fue mostrar cierta debilidad. ¿Por qué hizo esto? Debe ser porque se siente amenazado”.

Pérez también restó importancia al incidente entre Federico Valverde y Aurélien Tchouaméni. Ambos jugadores protagonizaron una pelea durante un entrenamiento la semana pasada, que obl

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By Joseph Ataman, Pierre P Bairin, Sophie Tanno, CNN

(CNN) — As many as 1,700 passengers are being held on board a cruise ship in southwest France, after dozens of cases of possible gastroenteritis on board.

The ship, named Ambition, was scheduled to sail around France and Spain after picking up passengers from the UK cities of Belfast and Liverpool on May 8 and May 9.

Up to 50 passengers on board Ambition were affected by symptoms consistent with an acute stomach sickness, according to the local health agency in the French department of Gironde.

The passengers were immediately seen by a doctor and kept in isolation in their rooms, according to the statement.

One passenger aboard the ship has died, Reuters reported citing French media.

There is no reason to link the outbreak onboard Ambition with the outbreak of the hantavirus on board the cruise ship Hondius, the regional health authority said.

As a precautionary measure, the planned disembarkation of passengers at Bordeaux has been suspended, pending medical tests. Samples taken from passengers are being analyzed by the Infectious Diseases Department at the Bordeaux University Hospital (CHU).

The ship’s operator, Ambassador Cruise Line, confirmed that a number of guests and crew onboard Ambition have displayed or are displaying symptoms consistent with gastrointestinal illness during a 14-night scheduled journey.

“We would like to reassure guests that we take any illnesses aboard our fleet extremely seriously,” the cruise line said.

“Enhanced sanitation and prevention protocols were immediately implemented across the ship in line with established public health procedures following the initial reports of illness.”

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